AUSTIN - Texas students scored just below average on a national
reading test last year, and the state's black fourth-graders ranked
fifth-highest when compared with their peers on the Nation's Report
Card exam.

Results released Wednesday on the National Assessment of
Educational Progress indicated that Texas fourth-graders had the
33rd-ranked average score, and eighth-graders were 34th, when
compared with other states.

Texas was just a point below the national average reading score
- 220 out of 500 possible points - for fourth-graders and two
points below the national average (262) for eighth-graders.

State education officials pointed out that Texas' overall
ranking among the states was a direct result of its large
proportion of minority students - who typically score lower than
white students on standardized tests - compared with other
states.

For example, black eighth-graders in Texas had the 17th highest
score when compared with black students in other states, and
Hispanic eighth-graders in Texas ranked 19th. White students in
Texas ranked 10th in both grade levels.

However, compared with the last such exam in 2007, Texas
students showed no improvement in achievement and actually slipped
a bit compared with the national averages in both grades.

The test is closely monitored because it is the only assessment
test given to students in all states and is the basis for the
Nation's Report Card issued by the U.S. Department of Education.
The test was given to a scientifically selected sample of nearly
328,000 fourth- and eighth-graders in all states last year.

"Texas and the nation have focused a great deal of attention and
resources on reading improvement over the past decade," state
Education Commissioner Robert Scott said Wednesday after viewing
the results. "Our state has become much more ethnically and
economically diverse during this period, yet we managed to hold our
scores steady."

Still, he acknowledged, "We know there is more to do. We expect
that our revised curriculum standards, the college and workplace
readiness standards, and the new testing program will move this
effort forward."

Math scores on the test were released last fall. Texas students
generally ranked higher in math than they did in the reading scores
released Wednesday. Black fourth-graders ranked third and black
eighth-graders tied for first on the math test when compared with
black students in the other states.

The long-standing achievement gaps between white and minority
students in Texas remain, although they have diminished since the
test was first administered two decades ago. Some education experts
have noted that at the current slow rate of improvement for
minority students, it will take decades for them to catch up to
their white counterparts.

Nationally, eighth-graders showed some improvements in reading
comprehension last year compared with 2007, while overall results
for fourth-graders were unchanged.

Students were also grouped into three categories based on their
test scores: basic (partial mastery of knowledge and skills),
proficient (solid performance) and advanced (superior
performance).

Nearly 67 percent of fourth-graders and 75 percent of
eighth-graders performed at or above the basic level. In Texas, 65
percent of fourth-graders and 73 percent of eighth-graders were at
or above the basic level. Compared with two states with similar
demographics, Texas had higher NAEP scores than California but
lower scores than Florida.